Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Saunders
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Unflinching cancer memoir from Black, nonbinary 23-year-old.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
When BLESS THE BLOOD begins, 23-year-old Walela is diagnosed with leukemia. This sets her on an unwanted journey that tests her already strained family relationships as well as her romantic partnership. It also exposes her to the indignities of the U.S. healthcare system, especially the inequities affecting Black people, queer people, fat people, disabled people, neurodivergent people, and poor people.
Is It Any Good?
This raw and beautiful debut is eye-opening. In Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir by Walela Nehanda, the author shares the most intimate and ugly experiences of getting a cancer diagnosis as a young adult. The tone is "real talk": Walela protests the expectation that her story be uplifting and inspiring. They share not just the descriptions of illness and medical procedures, but all the rage that arises as the cancer process sheds light on societal issues and relationship failures. Because of the emotional intensity of this book, it's best for mature readers.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about empathy in Bless the Blood. Why do you think it can be hard for people to express empathy when their friends or loved ones are going through serious life challenges?
Discuss the narrator's relationship to gratitude. How does it help them to persevere? How do anger, fear, and sadness interrupt their feelings of gratitude and how do they reconnect with those feelings?
The author alternates between poetry, essays, and prose poetry. How do these choices affect how the material moves you? Consider when poetry softens tough content and when it intensifies emotion?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Autobiography
- Topics : Activism , Adventures , Friendship
- Character Strengths : Empathy , Gratitude , Perseverance
- Book type : Non-Fiction
- Publisher : Kokila
- Publication date : February 6, 2024
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 17
- Number of pages : 400
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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